Libre Club shootout

The Libre Club shootout occurred one night in 1995 when a hit squad of Norte del Valle Cartel members attempted to assassinate Cali Cartel leader Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela at the Libre Club in Carrera Ocho, Cali, Colombia, killing over 15 people and injuring dozens. The shootout occurred as Rodriguez and his associates enjoyed a salsa festival with scores of dancing partygoers; the shootout occurred as DEA agent Chris Feistl and Cali Cartel double agent Jorge Salcedo were planning to arrest Rodriguez, dismantle the cartel, and grant Salcedo immunity. The hit squad failed to kill Rodriguez, and the Cali Cartel bodyguards succeeded in killing all of the cartel members.

The shootout occurred in the context of a dispute between the Norte del Valle and Cali organizations, stemming from the murder of Norte del Valle Cartel member Alvaro Salazar by Cali Cartel leader Helmer Herrera over an old dispute. Norte del Valle leader Orlando Henao Montoya authorized the hit attempt, planning to take over the cocaine industry in the power vacuum left by the arrest of Cali's wisest leader, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela. At the same time as the Libre Club shooting, Herrera was attacked by a hit squad of Norte del Valle hitmen at Amado Carrillo Fuentes' Ciudad Juarez, Mexico mansion, as Carrillo had made a deal with Henao after Herrera refused to leave the Cali Cartel and partner with him. The two shootings led to the Cali Cartel declaring war on the Norte del Valle cartel; Salcedo was promoted to head Rodriguez's security detail as the result of his rescue of the Cali leader.